Vampire Question

[November]

Hey guys,
I'm new to the forum and have a question that has been bugging me for a while. I know that vamps dont breathe or dont need air, but how does spike make dru pass out in btvs season 2 begginning part 2? Also in season 7 when the first is having spike held under the water until he passes out but he comes round again when his head is out of he water? But in angel when conner dumps angel in the water coffin thing he is still awake (at times...) even tho he is underwater? sorry if I have worded it in a confusing way, im not very good at explaining things! what do you think?

 

[ILLYRIAN]

In the first case Spike put Dru in a sleeper hold, which in theory doesn't work if you can hold your breath for long enough, or your a vampire. I reckon he loved her so much he simply knocked her out, can't think of any other way.
In case two a vampire breathes out of habit not need, that's my excuse anyway.
In case three, HEY ! they got it right !.
Blondie Bear thought she was the continuity nazi until I started asking that type of question, guess what ?, seems like your the continuity nazi now.
Have fun !.

 

[November]

hehe thanks mate! good to see it from others perspectives, keeps the fantasy alive!

 

[UlaGan]

In the first case Spike put Dru in a sleeper hold, which in theory doesn't work if you can hold your breath for long enough, or your a vampire. I reckon he loved her so much he simply knocked her out, can't think of any other way.
In case two a vampire breathes out of habit not need, that's my excuse anyway.
In case three, HEY ! they got it right !.
Blondie Bear thought she was the continuity nazi until I started asking that type of question, guess what ?, seems like your the continuity nazi now.
Have fun !.

So that's how we call it.. ok. 😉

Yeah, I used to film a movie for my dyploma - well, lacking financing as student and lacking enough time, it appeared as 'big movie project' - still, I know what it takes to get it together.
They could simply forget about some stuff they film being busy with other things that may go wrong on stage.

Good point brought up, I got enchanted by whole scene and paid no attention to such 'goofs'.

 

[November]

yeah i thought they may have just not thought about it in production but i wanted an excuse so i can keep beliving in the buffyverse and forget that it is just a tv show🙁 hehe

 

[UlaGan]

yeah i thought they may have just not thought about it in production but i wanted an excuse so i can keep beliving in the buffyverse and forget that it is just a tv show🙁 hehe

Then you've got to ignore the goofs. Like I do sometimes.

 

[November]

yup i know what ya mean. well now i have an excuse anyway which is great! would love to hear more excuses for the 'goofs'! just out of interest.

 

[white avenger]

In the first case Spike put Dru in a sleeper hold, which in theory doesn't work if you can hold your breath for long enough, or your a vampire. I reckon he loved her so much he simply knocked her out, can't think of any other way.
In case two a vampire breathes out of habit not need, that's my excuse anyway.
In case three, HEY ! they got it right !.
Blondie Bear thought she was the continuity nazi until I started asking that type of question, guess what ?, seems like your the continuity nazi now.
Have fun !.

First off, the so called "sleeper hold" has nothing to do with breathing. The two arteries on either side of the neck are compressed, restricting the flow of blood to the brain, causing unconsciousness. Since vampires bleed, and bruise, both requiring blood flow, there might be an argument that that particular hold might work.

As for the drowning scene, it was never established that what Spike was being drowned in was water. Maybe there is some sort of colorless liquid that can cause vampires to choke. Alcohol affects them, otherwise they couldn't get drunk. Matbe Spike was drowned in a giant martini.

When it really gets down to the truth, whatever argument or explanation we use, the writers just plain screwed up and the director either didn't know, didn't care, or just hoped no one would notice.

 

[November]

LOL a giant martini hey!

 

[Cordelia Chase*]

Angel passed out from lack of blood in my theory. He was underwater for months.

 

[justanotherjen]

I remember seeing that episode for the first time and thought the same thing. But I let it slide because it was cute that Spike wanted to knock Dru out without actually having to knock her out (although they went a couple rounds before that).

I just tend to let those things slide.

 

[Vicariously]

hmm interesting question I like White avengers theory it means that they didnt really goof at all LOL

 

[Blondie Bear]

I was going to say that thing about cutting off blood flow, but WA beat me to it.

Maybe the thing with Spike being "drowned" wasn't about the water at all. Maybe it was about power (ooohhh). Spike would not have enjoyed being physically dominated, and that's exactly what the ubervamp was doing. The water probably didn't actually have anything to do with anything except as something to do besides beat the bloody crap out of Spike.

That's my opinion, anyway.

And I'm more than happy to pass on the Continuity Nazi . . . crown? Badge? Whatever.

 

[Tranquillity]

Yeah, i always took the water thing from seasons seven as just torture not an attempt to make him drown. Doesn't drusilla say something about their kind being good dollies because they are so hard to kill? Drowning may be impossible for vampires but it doesn't mean the sensation of being under water is plesant. well that's my theory and i'm sticking to it anyway🙂

 

[November]

Good theories, Thanks for the imput!

 

[UlaGan]

First off, the so called "sleeper hold" has nothing to do with breathing. The two arteries on either side of the neck are compressed, restricting the flow of blood to the brain, causing unconsciousness. Since vampires bleed, and bruise, both requiring blood flow, there might be an argument that that particular hold might work.


When it really gets down to the truth, whatever argument or explanation we use, the writers just plain screwed up and the director either didn't know, didn't care, or just hoped no one would notice.

Which is curious - for: what blood flow? Their heart doesn't even beat. So it can't pump their blood up the arteries and down the veins.
Remember Spike's song? If my heart could beat it would break my chest...

So you're right here it was just another authors' goof...

 

[LittleMissLikesToFight]

and yet they bleed when cut...so there is some blood flowing through the veins, isn't there?

 

[Rowan Hawthorn]

Yes. In fact, not only did Dracula bleed in the novel (he cut a vein in his chest with a nail and forced Mina Harker to drink,) lots of old stories in both literature and folklore refer to "copious amounts", "fountains", "gouts", etc, of blood whenever a vampire is staked or beheaded.

 

[Lou]

Well, there are just too many "medical mysteries" to Vampires, you see.

Like they bleed when no heart pumping. They can heal quickly with no real source of healing..like pumping blood and nothing to make platelets with. They appear to become out of breath when fighting heavily also, even though they don't breathe.
And then there is the fun of somehow piercing the heart with wood can cause them to burst into flying dust...something certainly more X-Files than Forensic Files!

So, here is MY theory!

Blood DOES pump, though not exactly the way ours does. Vampires drink the blood and the supply makes it flow. Kind of like if you dump water into a mold for a pond. It flows around until it reaches everything. Thus supplying the necessary movement for vampires to bleed and heal.

Since, this blood usually comes from living things, it comes with it's own supply of oxygen.
(Think 9th Grade Bio class. Goes to the lungs and get oxygen, travels around then comes back and gets more.)
Without SOME oxygen, the blood cells would die very quickly and the vampire would start to decompose. Since we can SEE them breathing at times, I think we can assume that it's partly habit, but it could also be that they need to have access to SOME oxygen to keep things going. Not as much as us, because they don't need to keep their heart pumping or digest food like we do. Thus, they don't actually INHALE like we do in order to do CPR, just oxygen to be roughly around the lung place so that the blood they drink has access to SOME.
And that when you cut off ALL oxygen the blood starts to "flow" more slowly, thus making them at the very least sluggish.


Which would explain Spike not liking being drowned all that much (of course he was already weak in other ways and they didn't appear to be feeding him, so his blood was probably ALL gooky.) Drusilla, well, she's just a fruit-cake, she can't tell a dead bird from a live one, I doubt it take much to knock her out. It would HELP explain Angel being in the ocean. Weak from no blood AND, perhaps what little oxygen he could absorb from the water. It would also explain why in Season 1 of Angel when the whack-o doctor injects him with the paralytic drug, he actually goes foggy and passes out. He doesn't have a heart to stop beating, which was the guy's plan, BUT, if his lungs do serve a MINOR purpose, and they stop...then he'd get sluggish feeling and pass out.

It's a stretch, but it DOES cover everything, right?

 

[Lou]

Well....and you HAVE to be able to breathe a little bit to smoke...or at least to light it. I tried lighting a cigarette without inhaling once...quite hard, if not nearly impossible.